I had a hard time deciding what to name these bars.
Oat bars? Granola bars? Hemp seed bars? Chia seed bars? Dried fruit bars? Seed bars? Energy Bars? Gluten free bars? Vegan Bars?
Or just Oat Hemp Chia Seed Fruit Gluten-free Vegan Energy bars?
That would have been too long, right?
Ever since I shared the recipe for dried fruit and seed bars last year I’ve been wondering how I can make them even better, and by that I mean, less guilty.
I’ve been doing a couple of variations and although these ones may not be the guilty-free bars since the dried apricots had some sugar added to them are definitely the best energy bars!
They are soft and chewy, perfect for breakfast on the go, in your lunch box, after an intense workout or as an afternoon pick-me-up.
Leaving aside the little sugar from the apricots, these bars are filled with chia seeds, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, flaxmeal and unsweetened coconut.
Hemp seeds contain more of the beneficial amino acids than proteins such as milk, eggs or meat.
Hemp is a complete source of protein and is easily digestible.
Hemp seed contains almost seven times more omega-3 fatty acids than fish. It also provides an option for those unable to eat gluten, meat, sugar and milk. It is a good addition to a diet for those concerned about avoiding carbohydrates.
Have you ever tried hemp seeds?
Healthy snack bars - oats, hemp and chia seeds, flaxmeal and dried fruit packed for a boost of energy. Gluten free. Vegan. Super easy.
Ingredients
- 8 oz unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup dried fruit (I used half cranberries, half apricots)
- 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup hemp seeds
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 2/3 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut
- 1/3 cup chia seeds
- 1/4 cup flaxseed meal + 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400F.
- Line an 11X7 baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl mix the flaxseed meal with the water and wait few minutes until it becomes gelatinous.
- In a medium size bowl mix all the ingredients with a wooden spoon or spatula until just combined.
- Spoon it into the prepared baking pan and bake for 25 minutes or until set and soft to the touch.
- Leave to cool completely before cutting into bars.
- The bars can be frozen in an air-tight container for up to a month.
Sending love your way,
Roxana
{ 60 comments… read them below or add one }
These bars look so chewy and good, Roxana! I love the apricots and all the nutritious mix-ins you added.
These bars sound wonderful Roxana! They have so much goodness packed into them!
Roxana, like many of your recipes, this is delicious and wholesome!
I love granola or energy bars and recently made some myself as well. However yours sound wonderful with all these ingredients. They’ll be a nice addition to my backpack while hiking in the mountains. Thanks for sharing.
I keep hearing about the wonderful health benefits of chia seeds and these bars look like a great way to try them out. I just love the addition of dried fruit and oats, too…so yummy! I think these could be mailed, couldn’t them?????
Now this is something i can eat to cure my sweet tooth without feeling guilty!!!
Beautiful photos roxana
Wow! These look perfect!
It never even really occurred on me that we can make scrumptious, healthy bars like these at home! This is the real deal, love it! I want to try to make these for my kids. Thanks for the inspiration! Have a great weekend, Roxana
these look great
would love it if you could share this on my link party Serenity Saturday, that runs from Saturday – Thursday @ http://www.serenityyou.blogspot.com
This recipe is so timely for back to school time around the corner. Perfect little lunch box snack!
these look and sound delicious I love the simple ingredients in them, great pictures and I think the name is perfect
I *finally* bought oats. Okay I’m ready to make snack bars! These look delicious Roxana! I’m so jealous your home is always filled with these healthy snacks. I better make my own snacks. Have a great weekend!
These look amazing! I made homemade lara bars with dried fruit and nuts a little while ago and loved them so I’m sure that these are delicious too! Quick question – do you know if the “I Can’t believe it’s vegan” “Tis the Season” “for my sweet tooth” and “Gluten free” boards you are a part of on pinterest are accepting more contributors? I would love to pin recipes to those boards but am not sure how to go about requesting admission. Please let me know! Thanks! (my pinterest account is acoupletraveler)
Hi Vicky,
I also made homemade lara bars, http://www.roxanashomebaking.com/chocolate-chip-brownie-bars-recipe/.
I just added you to the “I can’t believe it’s vegan” and “gluten-free’ pinterest boards.
I ckecked your pins and as much as I’d love to add you to the “sweet tooth” board, you need lots more sweet pins from other blogs, not just from yours.
Roxana
Wow, these look great! They are just packed with great stuff! Don’t worry, I share your problem with naming things(why is it so hard?!), but the name of these fits perfectly. I could go for one right now!
I know your bars are healthy but I just love the colors!
These look wonderful. My son is gluten free and like most serious GF kids he can’t have oats though. Any thoughts on what we could substitute that would still hold together right?
Hi Alicia,
I know there are gluten-free oats (which I used to make these bars) and I supposed you already tested them with your son.
i’m not an expert in gluten-free baking
I’ll have to ask some friends and see what I can find, hopefully they can come up with a solution.
Roxana
Hi Alicia,
I have a couple of suggestions for you : quinoa flakes, puffed millet, puffed rice or corn puff.
I have to say I haven’t tried making these bars with any of these gf substitutions. Hope it works out well for you. Either way, i hope you come back and let me know how it turned out.
Roxana
Thanks for your quick response! I think the quinoa flakes might have the right consistency so I’ll look for those.
Most of the certified GF oats have been found to have gluten contamination (see http://www.celiac.com/articles/842/1/Gluten-Contamination-of-Commercial-Oats-in-the-United-States/Page1.html) and it’s inconsistent so one batch might have just a tiny bit of cross contamination where another from the same company might have a lot. There’s also this big debate in the Celiac community about whether the protein in oats also causes damage (just slower and to a smaller extent) the way gluten does. Some experts say that Celiacs can safely consume a small amount of oats each week before damaging their bodies (for small children I believe it’s a quarter cup of oats per week?) and about 20% of Celiacs are thought to be allergic to the oat proteins even in small doses. After working so hard to repair the damage to my little guy’s body by removing gluten last spring, I just don’t think it’s worth taking chances when there are so many ways it can potentially harm him. Luckily, most GF cookbooks don’t use oats as an ingredient and I’m relying heavily on those these days.
Sorry for the novel! LOL I’ll report back if I try the bars with the substitution.
As I read the recipe, I kept thinking..just water and applesauce to hold them together? Well..color me stunned and excited to try these! You always come up with the most amazing and healthy bars..and I desperately need amazing and healthy bars!!
These look so good and easy too! Love the dried apricots!
Roxy, those bars seriously look better than any store bought! What an amazing healthy treat! I will have to try making it for my kids school snacks. You did as always incredible job from pictures to the recipe itself! Wishing you wonderful weekend!
I totally agree, they would be a lovely treat to travel with! I have never had hemp seeds, thank you for sharing the health benefits for them! Hubby and I are really trying to minimize our sugar intake, so these would be perfect:-) Hugs, Terra
I have been looking for a homemade bar and this sounds delicious. Love how you healthified it even more. I’m checking out those other bar recipes too. Pinned it!
can flax meal be substituted with ground flax seeds? i usually just buy them whole and grind them. is the meal the same thing?
Hi Rebs,
If you grind your own seeds, that’s even better! Flax-meal is simply ground flax seeds.
Roxana
Thank you Roxana. You are super kind to answer my question so promptly
I will be making these soon! Love your recipes. I found you through food gawker btw. Thanks again for sharing your recipes!
Not familiar with hemp seeds. Are they neutral in taste? Either way, thanks for sharing because I’ve now learned something new!
Absolutely stunning pictures, Roxana! Love the shot with the apricots! These bars do sound delicious and would make for the perfect snack!
These sound wonderful!
These sound fantastic Roxana – packed with healthy ingredients!
I love making my own granola bars! These look super delicious!
Hi
Delighted to have found your website
I’m going to try making these later this week, how long do they last for and what is the best way to store them?
Many thanks
Hi Sammi,
I usually wrap each bar and place them in the freezer in an air-tight container. this way they last weeks and weeks (thus is you don’t eat them sooner – I uaually do) for place them in the fridge in an airtight container for few days
Hi Roxana
Thanks very much, looking forward to making these, just waiting for some ingredients to arrive
Hi,
In your recipe, you write to soak the hemp seed until gelatinous? Did you mean the chia seed? Looking forward to trying these!
Ok- I just re-read- ignore my question. You wrote soak the flax seed until gelatinous. So the chia seeds are not to be soaked- right?
Hi Roxana,
Any suggestion on a substitute for “dried coconut”?
Thanks!
Hi Tan,
You could use quinoa flakes or even more rolled oats.
Roxana
Thanks!
I made these today and they turned out pretty good! I didn’t have chia seeds or apricots on hand so I omitted those but I did add dried figs, poppy seeds, and pumpkin seeds.
Hallo Roxana.
Ich habe gerade ihren tollen Blog entdeckt, super gesund vegane Rezepte.
Ich würde sehr gerne diese Bars nachmachen aber Google übersetzt nicht gut, ich weiß nicht wie viel Haferflocken ich nehmen muss!?
Ich würde mich sehr freuen wenn sie mir helfen könnten.
Viele Grüße,
Jesse
Hi Jesse,
I have no idea what you said … please use English
Roxana
Wunderbar. Jesse Ihre vermeintlichen etwa 90 Gramm Hafer verwenden. Dies sollte Ihnen helfen stark ohne eine Sprachbarriere. Ich hoffe, dass mein Deutsch nicht zu rostig ist.
Wonderful. Jesse your supposed to use roughly 90 grams of oats. This should help you greatly without a language barrier. I hope my german isn’t too rusty.
Hi Roxana.
I can not speak English well, I do not know if that is right, I’ve wondered how much oatmeal do I have?
I just discovered your great blog, super healthy vegan recipes.
I would love these bars imitate but Google does not translate well, I do not take as much oatmeal should I?
I would be very happy if they could help me.
Best regards,
Jesse
1 cup oats
Many thanks for your help, I will make the same tomorrow, today’s late here in Germany it is now 02:37 at night.
Best regards,
Jesse
Yum! They look so good! Great recipe
I am not sure where to buy hemp seed, any ideas please?
Hi Cookiemo
I buy hemp seeds from my grocery store. You can buy them from any “Natural” store or online. Mine are from Bob’s Red Mill.
Roxana
Thanks for that, I’m in Australia. I checked my local health food store this morning but no luck. I may just substitute. I’ll let you know how they go.
I couldn’t find flax meal will the bars work if in leave this component out? Thanks, they look great
Hi Jess,
You could use the same amount of chia seeds instead and mix it with water to form a gelatinous paste or you could add 2 eggs. The flax meal is used as a substitute for eggs
Let me know how they turn out.
Roxana
Can you make these with almond meal/flour? I don’t have any flaxseed meal. I’m excited to try these!
Hi Donna,
Instead of flaxseed meal you can use 1/4 cup chia seeds and mx the with the water. Or you can use 2 eggs instead of the flax meal+ water
Roxana
Just made these for a healthy snack for my family. Used fig and cranberries for my fruits and put in some slivered almonds since I didn’t have hemp seeds. Great recipe, thanks!
Found these on Pinterest! Bought everything yesterday to make this morning. They’re in the oven smelling delicious! I know my young adult kids will love these plus they’ll mail well to my college kid- thanks so much,
Can’t wait to try these! About how many bars does it make? I want to try and calculate the calories per bar. Also, is the “dessicated” coconut the same as powdered coconut? Thx!
Hi Michelle,
The recipe yields an 11X7 inch pan. How many bars, depends on how thick you cut them. Somewhere around 16-20, to approximate.
Desiccated coconut is shredded coconut that has been dried. Coconut flakes work as well.
Roxana
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